use strict; use warnings; my $n = shift || 5; my ($count, $first, $last) = (1, 0, $n - 1); my @matrix; push @matrix, [(0)] for (1..$n); { $matrix[$first][$_] = $count++ for ($first..$last); $matrix[$_][$last] = $count++ for (($first+1)..$last); $matrix[$last][$last-$_+$first-1] = $count++ for ($first..$last-1); for ($_ = --$last; $_ > $first; --$_) {$matrix[$_][$first] = $count++} $matrix[$first][$last] = $count if (++$first == $last); redo unless $first >= $last; } my $width = (int log $count) - 1; print "" . (join " ", map {sprintf "%${width}d", $_} @{$matrix[$_]}) . "\n" for (0..($n-1));